Historic Florida

     I haven't been on a field trip with my kids in forever so finally one came up. It was to the Barnacle Historic House in Coral Gables. The trip was with my youngest and his classmates of fourth graders, 53 to be exact. I was looking forward to this for over a week. I have lived in Miami my entire life and never knew this place even existed. Right smack in the middle of the Gables sits this beautiful Historic House of the famous sailboat builder Commodore Ralph Middleton Munroe. It sits on 40 acres of land on Biscayne Bay. Doesn't get better than that! Sure it does. He only paid $400 for it. Today that is nothing, back then that was expensive.

 

     When we first arrived, we walked down through the hardwood hammock to the covered patio to hear a bit of history about the house. There was half an hour worth of so much information. In fact, it was too much for my brain to take in, I can't imagine if all the kids got it! LOL Either way I am sure they remembered something. After the introduction, we were taken into the house to check it out. It was amazing. I just love to see things from the past, especially here in Florida. I love my state and hearing about it's history, is awesome. Inside the house were so many antiques. The furniture, the books, cameras, radio, refrigerator, stove, and much more. I can't imagine how simple life was then. Must have been nice. At least they weren't running around everywhere with a phone on their hip. Times were simple back then. People worked hard and they appreciated what they had. Things were not taken for granted. It must have been wonderful.
     Once we were done inside the house, we traveled back outside to have lunch. The school provided lunches for the kids. I was impressed with what they got. I myself had a few oranges and apples to snack on and some water to drink. The kids ate a bologna sandwich, apple, milk, and a orange-pineapple juice. Pretty good if I don't say so myself.
      After eating we got ready for a scavenger hunt. The kids had to form groups and walk around the grounds to find the answers. It focused on the different trees found in the hardwood hammock. After about five minutes with no answers to be found, the kids were giving up. I could see that they were guessing just to get it done. I am a puzzle lover, so I decided to get in on the hunt. I scanned over the questions and it dawned on me, the guide mentioned earlier where to get all the answers. Guess that is one thing I remembered but the kids didn't. Haha I walked up to my son and his group, they were frustrated. I offered to help them get the puzzle complete. As that was going on another group of kids wanted help too. So I took all 6 of them on a walk to find the answers to the questions. We walked all the way back to the entrance of the grounds. As we walked I pointed out the little pedestals with information on them. I showed them a few and they picked it up from there. It was exciting to see them realize that the answers were now right in front of their faces. We ended up running around to try and get all the answers the fastest. So far there were no other kids that completed the hunt. I for one was not going to let my group give up!!! We found all of our answers and completed the riddle at the bottom. Awesome team! They were all so excited that they ran around to the other kids saying how they completed the whole puzzle. Haha Gotta love the feeling of success.
     It was now time for the kids to randomly play. Our trip was ending soon so the teachers allowed them enjoy the rest of the time. A break from all the information cramming into their brains is more like it. The guides provided them with chalk, and soccer balls, jump ropes and hoola hoops. It was great watching all them play so well together. No fights, just fun. A few boys fell and scraped themselves...boys! Girls were dancing together and laughing. All the teachers and volunteers sat around relaxing themselves and enjoying adult conversation before time to get back to work.
     The bus ride was about an hour long. I thought nothing of it because I was socializing with my son's teacher. We were discussing how many kids we thought would fall asleep on the bus. It was hysterical. Some of their heads were bobbing up and down as they fought the sleep. One even had drool coming out of his mouth. Gross but funny! In total there were about 6 that fell asleep. The field trip wore them out. I was pretty pooped too. I was a great day with a great group of kids. I really felt like a kid around them. I enjoyed their company as much as they enjoyed mine, so I was told by my son. I really love children and appreciate the great times with them. Makes me want to volunteer more often. Have a happy day!